Marijuana: What’s law enforcement actually grousing about in Washington?

This is not the total sum of marijuana in the black market (see story). (Getty Images)

Psychoactive drugs … are found in every known culture, and human beings seem to take endless delight in finding ways to change their consciousness. Many psychoactive drugs can be dangerous, even lethal, if wrongly used, and most cultures have a complex system of rituals, rules, and traditions that limit who can take which drugs, under what circumstances, and with what preparation. An exception is modern Western culture, where prohibition means that such natural protective systems cannot develop, and many of the most powerful psychoactive drugs are bought on the street and taken by young people without any such understanding or protection. — Susan Blackmore, “Consciousness: A very short introduction”

F the police but who’s stoppin you from killin me? — Public Enemy

Just to be clear up front, we here at the Pot Blog are not anti-law enforcement and neither do we think that marijuana should be loosed from all restraints because, like the quote above explains, there’s no coherent cultural background for its general use, like, say … well …

Strange that it’s so hard to think of anything in our culture that has a coherent norm of restraint wrapped around it … but I digress.

That said, several recent comments by prominent law enforcement officials deserve to be challenged. They make very little immediate sense, for one; and for another, the comments project the idea that I-502 and legalization invented marijuana.

With our new marijuana laws, and especially with their approach to edible product, we will see more young people getting sick and injured,” Sheriff Paul Pastor said in a statement. “We can expect more abuse and criminal activity as this law is implemented.”

When this was voted into law one of the selling points was “police should be fighting other crime not marijuana” that was a big piece of fiction. Very little time was spent, but Now with people blowing themselves and others up, drug and cash rips and now this type of activity with kids we may have a problem. Sheriff Paul Pastor comments are right on.

The story that spawned these comments very clearly demonstrates the strangeness of their arguments. And, frankly, it’s just a sad story all around. Here’s the gist of it from a news release by the Pierce County prosecutors (full release at bottom of this story):

(On Wednesday) Pierce County Prosecutor Mark Lindquist charged Michael Miller, 45, with unlawful delivery of a controlled substance to a person under the age of eighteen, unlawful manufacturing of a controlled substance, and reckless endangerment. Miller extracted hash oil from marijuana in his South Hill home, giving some of the oil to his teen daughter to use for baking. His daughter, A.M., 16, was charged with three counts of unlawful delivery of a controlled substance for giving baked goods, laced with THC coconut oil, to fellow high school students. Miller was arraigned today in Tacoma, and he is being held in lieu of $35,000 bail. His daughter was arraigned today at Remann Hall, and is being held until suitable housing can be found for her.

Regardless of whether you think these two should be in trouble or not, the case very clearly shows that there are laws on the books for cops to use for reigning in illegal marijuana activity. The things these two are accused of are all illegal.

So, what’s keeping the police from investigating, making arrests and filing charges? Nothing.

The manufacture of marijuana or marijuana products outside of I-502 and the loose-but-still-there medical marijuana laws are as illegal as they ever were.

And if I-502 ever gets off the ground (first sales should be early July), the supply of marijuana in Washington will eventually be mostly from this legal system, thus reducing the temptation for illegal weed acts … since there won’t be much money in it.

Bring in U.S. Attorney Jenny Durkan (Western Washington):

“This defendant brought gunfire and danger to a quiet neighborhood. He is not alone. We are seeing an alarming increase in violence related to the marijuana trade,” said U.S. Attorney Jenny A. Durkan. “Guns and drugs are a dangerous and illegal mix. Those that bring that danger to our neighborhoods will face a dear price.”

This statement was in a news release about a marijuana grower and dealer who shot at fleeing robbers in his neighborhood (full press releases at the bottom of this story). Durkan clearly points out that laws on the books can and will be used to curtail these activities.

But what’s this “alarming increase in violence related to the marijuana trade”?

Seems to me that violence has been one of the hallmarks of a black market supercharged by the war on drugs. Big profits in the marijuana trade has always been an inducement to dangerous illegal acts.

Marijuana wasn’t invented by I-502

These kinds of statements by law enforcement are revisionist, at best.

They try to give the impression that police and prosecutors had the marijuana black market well in hand, crimped down to a trickle, or somehow had it hemmed in, and that legalization has let the genie out of the bottle.

The fact is, however, that law enforcement has been running, at best, hit-and-run skirmishes against the superior forces of general public acceptance of marijuana. That acceptance and prevalent use within our society created an enormously wealthy black market that was worth (apparently) defending from competition and from police, often violently.

So, no. Legalization will not create more criminal activity, because it would be very difficult to create more criminal activity than there already is — and was — surrounding marijuana. Law enforcement, as truly valiant as it is, cannot combat the wholesale shift in public attitude that ruled the black market and now has created a legal cannabis market here and elsewhere.

That’s what’s meant by “The war on drugs has failed.” Google that comment and you’ll see as many police and politicians as pro-potters saying so.

Legalization will put kids at risk

Again, the short answer here is that legalization wasn’t responsible for the still-illegal acts alleged in the Pierce County case.

Giving away/selling any amount of marijuana outside of I-502 is still on the books as felony distribution and giving any amount to a kid is still very much illegal all the way around (as the charges in this case make clear).

“But,” you will hear, “kids are talking a lot more about marijuana and seem to suddenly find it acceptable.”

Let’s just say that while it might be the case that more kids will be exposed to marijuana who might not otherwise, especially edibles, that again doesn’t mean that kids are suddenly facing a pervasive new temptation in their lives.

I would suspect, and this will all take years to measure scientifically, that kids are simply talking about it more because it’s OK now to talk about it. And, that’s a good thing.

Back in the early 1980s, in Billings, Montana, marijuana was available. As kids during those hard-hitting, war-on-drugs, zero-tolerance years, we would never admit to an adult and especially not in writing that we smoked weed, let alone several times a month.

Why? Because the penalties were so draconian. People lost their homes, went to jail and had to live the rest of their lives with a felony (there was no such thing as “diversion” and the judge invariably threw the book at you). So, no one I knew ever admitted to using.

In conclusion …

Don’t give marijuana to kids.

Don’t let revisionists get away with the idea that this new legal environment is just “too much” … as if law enforcement had it all licked until a bunch of dope heads hoodwinked more than half of the voting public into choosing legalization.

Legalization for most people is an attempt to control and regulate an already pervasive marijuana market.

Image 1of/22

Caption

Close

Image 1 of 22

Just when you think you've heard it all about marijuana ... a DEA agent chimes in with ... (Hint: we now know why the famous Killer Rabbit of Caerbannog got so vicious!)

Just when you think you've heard it all about marijuana ... a DEA agent chimes in with ... (Hint: we now know why the famous Killer Rabbit of Caerbannog got so vicious!)

Image 2 of 22

The Cannabist reports on the fear of "stoned rabbits": “Personally, I have seen entire mountainsides subjected to pesticides, harmful chemicals, deforestation and erosion,” (the agent) said. “The ramifications to the flora, the animal life, the contaminated water, are still unknown.”

(The agent) said that at some illegal marijuana grow sites he saw “rabbits that had cultivated a taste for the marijuana. …” He continued: “One of them refused to leave us, and we took all the marijuana around him, but his natural instincts to run were somehow gone.”

The Cannabist reports on the fear of "stoned rabbits": “Personally, I have seen entire mountainsides subjected to pesticides, harmful chemicals, deforestation and erosion,” (the agent) said. “The ... more

Image 3 of 22

NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton says marijuana is cause of killings …

“The seemingly innocent drug that’s being legalized around the country — in this city, people are killing each other over marijuana,” he said (according to the site DNAinfo.com)

So you have to ask yourself, why are people killing each other over marijuana and what can be done to stop people killing each other over it? First off, they are killing each other for it because it’s an illegal lucrative trade. Second, the power of the United States of America has been used for decades to stop that illegal trade and guess what …

So, legalize it and bring that trade out of the back alleys, where it will persist no matter how much more illegal Bratton thinks it should be. Once that happens, grievances over pricing and availability will be solved the good old-fashioned capitalist way (lawsuits, that is).

Photo: New York Police Commissioner Bill Bratton, right, speaks during a news conference at police headquarters, Wednesday. less

NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton says marijuana is cause of killings …

“The seemingly innocent drug that’s being legalized around the country — in this city, people are killing each other over

When discussing marijuana legalization at Senate hearing in January with Attorney General Eric Holder, Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., weightily argued: "Lady Gaga says she's addicted to it and it is not harmless."

According to People mag, Gaga said that she smoked marijuana to deal with the mental and physical challenges of her career …“I have been addicted to it and it's ultimately related to anxiety coping and it's a form of self-medication and I was smoking up to 15-20 marijuana cigarettes a day with no tobacco.”

As we reported: Ann Coulter doesn’t like pot. She says she never had smoked it. And she told Piers Morgan that legalizing it will mean more slacker potheads that she will have to support with her hard-earned tax money to support them. It always gets back to the Welfare State, doesn’t it?

“You can’t get anything done with a pothead,” she said. “They can’t perform daily functions. They’re going to be on my tax bill.”

So are all pot heads already on welfare? Or, are all people on welfare pot heads? Well, whatever she means, she clearly hates poor people. And, who can blame her! Sitting around smoking weed all day and popping out babies (even the men pop out babies) and getting in her way when she's heading for the bank, laughing.

But wait, there's more. Turns out she had a thing for the pool guy but he couldn't get the pool clean ... Coulter bases her scientific knowledge of pot heads all on her pool guy from a time she lived in California. Her pool had green mold on the bottom. Her pool guy was a pothead, she said, but how she knew, who knows? less

As we reported: Ann Coulter doesn’t like pot. She says she never had smoked it. And she told Piers Morgan that legalizing it will mean more slacker potheads that she will have to support with her hard-earned

“I mean, I’m a tolerant fellow ... this is a pretty liberal state, and I am sure there will be people arguing to put something on the ballot at some point.”

That point is this year, but likely without the Governor on board.

“I’m not leading any charge for further chemical actions,” he said. “We’ve got an awful lot of that going on right now, starting with Ritalin with little kids.”

Because children will be prescribed marijuana: A joint a day or maybe infused formula! Also, what the heck is he saying about doctors prescribing Ritalin?

American competitiveness hasn't suffered from half the country trying marijuana at some point already. Not to mention that things like a healthy middle class, decent diets, vacations from television and video games and, you know, good schools (let alone great schools) might also play a role in our competitiveness.

Photo: Gov. Jerry Brown (C) holds a golf club presented to him by San Bernardino Mayor Patrick Morris (L) while Paul Misener, Amazon Vice President Global Public Policy, stands at the podium during a news conference at the opening of Amazon's San Bernardino fulfillment center, located on the former Norton Air Force Base golf course, Oct. 29, 2013.

“A whole lot of folks now are talking about legalizing pot. … You can go to Congress. You can get a conversation. You could get Democrats and Republicans who would say, “We ought to change our drug policy in some way,” and you could have a real conversation. You could have hearings. You could look at the problem. You could discuss commonsense changes that maybe should happen or shouldn’t happen. This president didn’t do that. He just said, “The laws say one thing”—and mind you, these are criminal laws; these are laws that say if you do X, Y, and Z, you will go to prison. The president announced, “No, you won’t.”

Because, of course, Congress is working so well these days and is known far and wide for civil, honest and constructive conversations. And, of course, the feds made it clear that anything even hinting at being outside of the narrow channel of legalization in Colorado and Washington will be prosecuted. But hey, let’s not let nuance get between us Americans.

Photo:
Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) is among Senators arriving at the U.S. Capitol on the first day the Senate convenes for 2014 on Monday, January 6, 2014, in Washington, DC.

Former Broncos tight end Shannon Sharpe says the NFL league’s policy toward marijuana will never change “because of the way kids follow what NFL players do.”

But as the Washington Post points out: “Sorry, Mr. Sharpe, but kids who idolize NFL players are already bombarded by beer ads, the contracts for which enrich team owners and, by extension, players. And alcohol is objectively more harmful than marijuana in terms of its damage to the body, its addictiveness and its association with violent behavior.”

Photo: Shannon Sharp poses with his bust at the Enshrinement Ceremony for the Pro Football Hall of Fame on August 6, 2011 in Canton, Ohio.

"These drugs are illegal because of the harmful effect they have on users and on society," the party wrote on its website. "We will continue protecting the interests of families across this country. Our government has no interest in seeing marijuana legalized or made more easily available to youth."

Until it comes to alcohol, then we won’t.

Photo: Chrystia Freeland, Liberal candidate in the Toronto Centre byelection, campaigns on Church Street, helped by party leader Justin Trudeau.

… nearly 23 percent of seniors in American high schools right now admit to smoking marijuana recently. That's an incredible stat.

So why is this all happening? One of the reasons is because the pot legalizers have made the drug glamorous and the media has played along. … Now more bad news, combine the drug aspect with the Internet. According to a report by the American Academy of Pediatrics, 75 percent of 12 to 17 year olds in the USA have cell phones and virtually all of them text…

Here's a kicker, a study by the University of Winnipeg in Canada says students who text more than 100 times a day are 30 percent less likely to be ethical or principled in life. Are we getting all this? Young people in America are combining drugs, alcohol, and high-tech to build false lives to run away from reality.

In China, young people are encouraged to compete, be disciplined, to live in the real world. Not here.

Huh. Okay, let’s pack it up and go to godless, communist, state-planning for families etc. China. Where they apparently live in Reality.

Photo: Talk show host Bill O'Reilly during an interview on Nov. 18, 2013.

Tina Brown, the former Daily Beast/Newsweek editor-in-chief and naturalized U.S. citizen, warned that legalized marijuana would make the United States "a fatter, dumber, sleepier nation" and make it less competitive with China.

What’s with thinking Americans are fat? Does she mean pot makes people fat, because we thought American overeating and junk-food diets were doing that. And, of course, it will make us “dumber” because we’re already dumb? Or, is that “Dumber because our kids are crammed into schools and taught by underpaid and undervalued teachers”? Or what?

Sleepier, well, okay. Pot can make you sleepier … unlike watching hours upon hours of television every night while swilling beer.

Photo: Tina Brown attends the "Girls" season three premiere at Jazz at Lincoln Center on January 6, 2014 in New York City.

Tina Brown, the former Daily Beast/Newsweek editor-in-chief and naturalized U.S. citizen, warned that legalized marijuana would make the United States "a fatter, dumber, sleepier nation" and make it less

The deeper sources of happiness usually involve a state of going somewhere, becoming better at something, learning more about something, overcoming difficulty and experiencing a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment.

… yes … and?

This process usually involves using the powers of reason, temperance and self-control — not qualities one associates with being high.

… okay …

In legalizing weed, citizens of Colorado are, indeed, enhancing individual freedom. But they are also nurturing a moral ecology in which it is a bit harder to be the sort of person most of us want to be.

“Marijuana legalization may be the same-sex marriage of 2014 — a trend that reveals itself in the course of the year as obvious and inexorable. At the risk of exposing myself as the fuddy-duddy I seem to have become, I hope not.

“This is, I confess, not entirely logical and a tad hypocritical. At the risk of exposing myself as not the total fuddy-duddy of my children’s dismissive imaginings, I have done my share of inhaling, though back in the age of bell-bottoms and polyester.”

Wait. So, it’s cool to use marijuana if you did it back when polyester was cool? Or, it’s not cool, and you’ve always been duddy? And, what the hell are you saying about marriage equality?

“Decriminalization or re-legalization would mean that certain drugs would be legally available, but regulated by the government which would mean restrictions on advertising, age limitations, restrictions on the amount purchased at one time, requirements on the form in which certain drugs would be supplied and maybe a ban on sales to intoxicated persons, etc.”

And that sounds a lot like what I-502 in Washington and Amendment 64 in Colorado do. But wait, there’s more:

“It would mean significantly changing what would happen to people who were arrested for possession of the drug(s) in question (to my thinking, a sentence that would fit the crime as opposed to arbitrarily sending first-time offenders to prison for an egregious amount of time instead of getting them the help they truly need), and perhaps helping more people instead of damaging them for life.”

Right, except that you left in the part about being arrested and you’d have to figure out what the charge is. If the charge amounts to nothing or next to it, then the black market would become a raging fire of illegal pot blazing out of control.

But, at least the kids would be safe! Unless they get it from the black market!!! Wait second! Save the children! Arrest everyone!

Dr. John Sharp and Dr. Howard Samuels attend Recovery Fair Presented By The Fix And The Hills Treatment Center on November 10, 2012 in Los Angeles, Calif.

“Legalization would be a nightmare. All of a sudden, marijuana would be sold in grocery stores and 7-Elevens. There'd be advertisements in newspapers and on TV. The advent of the many different brands of pot would create a whole new industry that would mirror the alcohol and tobacco industries.”

Hmmmmm. And, of course, our prisons are not full of alcohol and tobacco sellers and buyers because … well, because people have decided that adults are able to make a personal choices in these matters. And, they figure, the threat to “our” children doesn’t outweigh the right of adults.

Consequently, we live in a society that allows access to alcohol, cigarettes, pornography and junk food and gambling and motorcycles ...

“Is that the society we're passionate about becoming? A ‘loaded’ society?”

Jiminy Christmas! Stop getting “loaded” everyone. Just stop it! Right! Now! All you poor and stressed out middle class babies suck it up! You think you’re stressed out because of the economy and the economic and social future of your children but you’re not. You’re stressed out because you’re drug-seeking fiends! Why just yesterday I was helping out a Hollywood executive who wished he had never started smoking marihuana …

"Alcohol, unlike marijuana, has a very long, widespread history in terms of the vast majority of the populations of Western culture before the Old Testament." … Because of that cultural legacy, he said, "we're stuck with alcohol whether we like it or not."

Yeah, but hasn’t marijuana use been around at least as long? Oh, wait, that’s right. White people used alcohol, and so we’re stuck with it. But brown people historically used marijuana, and we can stop that crap right now!

Photo: Kevin A. Sabet, Co-founder and Director of Project SAM, testifies during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on "Conflicts between State and Federal Marijuana Laws," on Capitol Hill, September 10, 2013 in Washington, DC. The hearing focused on conflicts between state and federal marijuana laws.

Sabet also claimed the true goal of legalization backers – who reaped 55 percent of the vote in Colorado and 56 percent in Washington in November 2012 – is to legalize other drugs.

“… you have advocacy groups, most of whom's main intention is to legalize cocaine and heroin down the road."

I knew it! Get us hooked on legal weed and then bring in the big boys to finish us off. It’s just a matter of time. Boy, all you stoners are sure going to be sorry when they make you snort cocaine and shoot up heroin. But you’ll wish then you’d just been carted off to jail for pot.

Because, of course, we’re all brainless sheep in need of big government law enforcers to save us from ourselves.

Photo: (L-R) John Urquhart, Sheriff for King County, Wash., Jack Finlaw, Chief Legal Counsel for the office of Governor John W. Hickenlooper, and Kevin A. Sabet, Co-founder and Director of Project SAM, testify during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on "Conflicts between State and Federal Marijuana Laws," on Capitol Hill, September 10, 2013 in Washington, DC. The hearing focused on conflicts between state and federal marijuana laws.

“For a generation of liberals, legalization of marijuana has become a harmless — if not inevitable — issue.

“Not for Patrick Kennedy (according to the Washington Post in 2013). The former Rhode Island congressman and scion of the famed Democratic dynasty has taken a surprising turn to the right in this debate.

“Marijuana destroys the brain and expedites psychosis,” he told us Tuesday. “It’s just overall a very dangerous drug.”

How in the hell could it be surprising? He started an anti-legalization battle group after melting his life down with drugs, booze and rock and roll. And, if any political group is bound to take up the nanny-state-stance it’s liberals … you know, they know what’s best for society and all that.

Anyway, if marijuana did what he said it does then we all – all of us from liberals to conservatives, religious to secularists -- would be surrounded by, beset by, crowded out on the bus by bong zombies. But we’re not, so there must be a little more subtlety to it than he’s letting on.

Photo: (Former) Congressman Patrick Kennedy (D-RI) meets with staff and constituents from Rhode Island in his office on Capitol Hill February 23, 2010 in Washington, DC.

Patrick Kennedy of Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) also told said in USNews and World Report that Colorado and Washington state … are "canaries in the coal mine."

"There are a lot of 'unintended consequences'... that will make them ponder whether this was the right decision," Kennedy said, predicting more traffic accidents, increased school truancy, higher drop-out rates and a general decrease in public health.

The fact is that marijuana has been pervasive throughout our society for at least 50 years. That also means that since marijuana hasn’t caused those problems already, something drastic will have to change for marijuana to suddenly cause these problems.

SAM points to legalization as that trigger. Their argument has been that many more people will use pot than use it now. But, brothers and sisters, millions already use it regularly and so millions of more users would have to take to pot in a major way to cause a “general decrease in public health.”

Seems a bit of stretch.

And, they argue that big weed like big tobacco will create herds of addicts dependent on the drug, and big weed will trick them into using marijuana through advertisement.

Unfortunately for that argument, marijuana has nothing even close to the addictive powers of cigarettes or alcohol. And withdrawal from extremely heavy marijuana use is on par with withdrawal from caffeine or junk food. With most science showing that the effects of heavy marijuana use go away after sustained abstinence.

So, marijuana is a drug and it should be treated that way and kept out of the hands of children and liberals, but that doesn’t mean many thousands of people should be put in prison or dragged to court or therapy for it every year.

Photo: (Former) Congressman Patrick Kennedy (D-RI) meets with staff and constituents from Rhode Island in his office on Capitol Hill February 23, 2010 in Washington, DC.

Marijuana: What’s law enforcement actually grousing about in Washington?

1 / 22

Back to Gallery

Photo: Diamond Sky Images / Getty Images

Image 1of/22

Caption

Close

Image 1 of 22

Is marijuana mare harmful than sugar? Well, a March poll by NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll shows that Americans think it is less harmful to health than sugar!

Is marijuana mare harmful than sugar? Well, a March poll by NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll shows that Americans think it is less harmful to health than sugar!

Photo: Diamond Sky Images / Getty Images

Image 2 of 22

Is marijuana more dangerous than masturbation?

Marijuana has been said to make one lazy, despondent, depressed and lose sexual get-up-and-go. Masturbation has for thousands of years been said by religious leaders to do all of those as well as possibly land you in hell.

Believe it or not many thousands of people (mostly kids) every year suffer eye injuries from running or farting around with sharp objects. Marijuana may cause permanent physical changes in the brain, but most studies show the negative effects of marijuana use dissipate completely after abstinence. Hey, try growing an eye back.

In the United States, a report by the National Council on Problem Gambling showed approximately one in five pathological gamblers attempts suicide. The Council also said suicide rates among pathological gamblers are higher than any other addictive disorder.

From the Mayo Clinic: Marijuana use and depression accompany each other more often than you might expect by chance, but there's no clear evidence that marijuana directly causes depression.

This from Philly.com in 2010: L. David Byers, 19, of Camp Hill, was found early Friday morning lying on the ground as his car and a gas pump burned in Camp Hill. He died from inhaling superheated gases, according to the Cumberland County coroner.

Static electricity apparently caused the fire, but only one other similar human fatality has been documented, in Oklahoma in 1996, said Robert Renkes, executive vice president of the Petroleum Equipment Institute.

From the Fayette County Health Department: Head injury is the leading cause of death in bicycle crashes and is the most important determinant of bicycle-related death and permanent disability. Head injuries account for more than 60 percent of bicycle-related deaths, more than two-thirds of bicycle-related hospital admissions and about one-third of hospital emergency room visits for bicycling injuries. The single most effective safety device available to reduce head injury and death from bicycle crashes is a helmet.

Marijuana can have serious effects on the brain, but nothing like this. No wonder we have helmet laws! But, you know, they can’t toss you in jail for riding without one.

From About.com: Most paranormal researchers advise against the casual use of the Ouija board, suggesting that it can be a doorway to unknown dimensions. “The board itself is not dangerous, but the form of communication that you are attempting often is," says Ghost researcher Dale Kaczmarek of the Ghost Research Society.

Marijuana has been said to be the devil’s weed. So, it’s a tossup, I’d say.

From the Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin: Since 1992, 39 children ages 14 and under have died from in-line skating injuries, mostly from collisions with motor vehicles. In 2000, nearly 58,000 children ages 5 to 14 were treated in hospital emergency rooms for in-line skating-related injuries. In 2000, more than 27,000 children ages 5 to 14 were treated in hospital emergency rooms for roller-skating-related injuries.

Risky territory here, but even with all of the personal and social good one can ascribe to religion, it’s clear that throughout history many wars and terrors have been committed in the name of one religion or another.

From Oprah: Today's generation of American children may end up being the first with a shorter life expectancy than their parents, but the problem isn't confined to the young: Obesity-related conditions like type 2 diabetes and heart disease are now among the leading causes of preventable death in adults.

From SFGate.com: Fast food is associated with an increased risk of death even after ruling out deaths due to cardiovascular conditions. In its 2005 study, the Canadian research team noted that regions high in fast food restaurant density are 2.52 times more likely to be extremely high in all-cause mortality. Similarly, the researchers at the University of South Australia in 2010 noted that each 10 percent increase in the concentration of fast food restaurants in a region is linked to a 1.36 times greater risk of all-cause mortality.

In the New York Times: “… researchers noted that the drinks contain high levels of caffeine and warned that certain susceptible people risk dangerous, even life-threatening, effects on blood pressure, heart rate and brain function.

Marijuana? From ABC news report on research: Scientists believe smoking marijuana puts a strain on your heart although are not sure whether it is the active ingredient tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) itself or other substances within the inhaled smoke, such as carbon monoxide and burnt plant particles, that have negative effects on the heart.

Previous studies have shown marijuana causes increased heart rate, fluctuations in blood pressure, and a decreased ability for the blood to carry oxygen. The heart is both working harder and getting less oxygen, a situation that increases heart attack risk.

From the CDC: There are approximately 88,000 deaths attributable to excessive alcohol use each year in the United States. This makes excessive alcohol use the 3rd leading lifestyle-related cause of death for the nation. Excessive alcohol use is responsible for 2.5 million years of potential life lost (YPLL) annually, or an average of about 30 years of potential life lost for each death. In 2006, there were more than 1.2 million emergency room visits and 2.7 million physician office visits due to excessive drinking. The economic costs of excessive alcohol consumption in 2006 were estimated at $223.5 billion.

The CDC: Cigarette smoking causes about one of every five deaths in the United States each year. Cigarette smoking is estimated to cause the following: More than 440,000 deaths annually (including deaths from secondhand smoke); 49,400 deaths per year from secondhand smoke exposure; 269,655 deaths annually among men (including deaths from secondhand smoke); 173,940 deaths annually among women (including deaths from secondhand smoke)

Deaths directly attributed to the physical effects of marijuana? You got it - zero.

Richard Branson for CNN: In business, if one of our companies is failing, we take steps to identify and solve the problem. What we don't do is continue failing strategies that cost huge sums of money and exacerbate the problem. Rather than continuing on the disastrous path of the war on drugs, we need to look at what works and what doesn't in terms of real evidence and data. The facts are overwhelming. If the global drug trade were a country, it would have one of the top 20 economies in the world.

A marijuana grower and dealer who used firearms to confront fleeing robbers, firing a dozen times in a residential neighborhood, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to 32 months in prison and three years of supervised release, announced U.S. Attorney Jenny A. Durkan. JASON LOKEN, 38, of Maple Valley, Washington, thought he had lined up a 6 pound drug deal with a call girl he met via Backpage.com when he was confronted by two robbers who bound him and stole his marijuana, hash oil and guns.

Following the robbery LOKEN was able to free himself, grabbed another gun and started shooting, wounding two people. At sentencing U.S. District Judge James L. Robart said, “This was a shootout… The sentences for the robbers are much longer, but you bear some responsibility for the decision to sell drugs and have guns.” Judge Robart noted that even after the robbery, LOKEN continued to grow marijuana and purchased an additional handgun. “This is not someone who has gained wisdom from the experience,” Judge Robart said.

“This defendant brought gunfire and danger to a quiet neighborhood. He is not alone. We are seeing an alarming increase in violence related to the marijuana trade,” said U.S. Attorney Jenny A. Durkan. “Guns and drugs are a dangerous and illegal mix. Those that bring that danger to our neighborhoods will face a dear price.”

Last month the lead robber, repeat offender Melvin Charles Slaughter, 41, was sentenced to 14 years in prison for the August 13, 2014 robbery. Slaughter’s associate, Ferdinand Clay, will be sentenced next month. Clay forced LOKEN to the floor and zip-tied his hands. However, LOKEN was able free himself and grab a gun from under his mattress. LOKEN raced out the front door and started firing – hitting one robber and wounding a woman who was driving a car associated with the robbers. The woman had no idea she was involved in a drug rip-off. Both people survived their wounds.

After shots were fired the robbery team sped away tossing bloodied items from the car, including some of the stolen firearms. They were recovered by police along the highway. The two who were injured went to different hospitals for treatment. Slaughter and the other female member of the robbery crew later turned themselves in to police. LOKEN claimed to be a grower for medical marijuana dispensaries, but later admitted that his marijuana manufacturing was in violation of state as well as federal law.

LOKEN pleaded guilty in December 2013 to manufacturing marijuana and discharge of a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime.

The case was investigated by the King County Sheriff’s Office, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (ATF) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Vince Lombardi.

Father charged for making hash oil, giving it to teen daughter

TACOMA, WA – Today Pierce County Prosecutor Mark Lindquist charged Michael Miller, 45, with unlawful delivery of a controlled substance to a person under the age of eighteen, unlawful manufacturing of a controlled substance, and reckless endangerment. Miller extracted hash oil from marijuana in his South Hill home, giving some of the oil to his teen daughter to use for baking. His daughter, A.M., 16, was charged with three counts of unlawful delivery of a controlled substance for giving baked goods, laced with THC coconut oil, to fellow high school students. Miller was arraigned today in Tacoma, and he is being held in lieu of $35,000 bail. His daughter was arraigned today at Remann Hall, and is being held until suitable housing can be found for her.

On June 17, 2014, A.M. gave brownies and lemon bars to three students at Emerald Ridge High School. Two students said they did not know the treats contained THC. A short time later, the students became ill, went to the nurse’s office, and told the nurse about the treats. A.M. admitted to baking the goods using THC coconut oil that her father gave to her. She told deputies her father knew she was going to make THC brownies to give to students at school.

Police served a search warrant at the Miller residence and found hash oil extraction equipment in the garage. They also discovered a large marijuana grow operation in the house, including 125 marijuana plants. Miller told detectives he allows his daughter to smoke marijuana with him, and admitted he knew his daughter was using the hash oil to bake confections.

Charges are only allegations and a person is presumed innocent unless he or she is proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.